Self-aligning furniture foot



May 10, 1949. A. A. ANDERSEN SELF-ALIGNING FURNITURE FOOT Filed May 13,1946 INVENTOR 14277109 A. ANDEESEN ATTORNEY Patented May 10, 1949 in thepast from tubularelement's and'fiifficulty has been'experienced inproviding feet for such elements; Many-tables, chairs and otherarticlesof furniture made of tubular sections-have been previously provided Withfeet made of rubber or rubber composition, these 'eleme'ntsbeing slippedupon the lower ends of the legs soas t'o prevent such lower endsfrom-scarring, in'denting;"cut-' ting or-otherwisedamaging the--floo'r', rug-lino leum or other surface upon which the -articlef-oifurniture is positioned. The 'difii'culty with such removable 'feet isthat 'they readily fall off and become lost. In other instancesthe'lower' end ofthe tubular leghas been provided with apermanent metalcap but such caps-areunsig'htly and when a chair istilted, the edge ofsuch cap causes a material indentation in the supporting surfaceandinmanyinstances causes th'e'chair t v p The present invention isparticularly directed to a furniture foot con-struction whichaccommodates itself to irregularities in the supporting surface andmaintains a firm"hold upon such supportingsurfaceeven though'thechair orother article of furniture is tilted. 1

It is to be remembered that many articles' of tubular furniture are usedon patios and'other enclosures surfaced with tile, and because of theinherent irregularity of tile floors, normal-tubular furniture is notstable thereon; The improved construction of the presentinventionobviates'thi's difiiculty, renders the articles stable eventhough in a tilted position, and may-"embody a resilient ornoise-absorbingpad whichelimina'tes theu'n desired clatter of metallicfurniture '-upon'- 'stone or tile flooring.

The present invention-also relatest'o anovel method of constructionandassembly so that "the resulting foot is smooth, attractiveand'virtiially irremovable accidentally. Generally stated, therefore,the invention" relat-es to a self-adjusting furniture foot'construc tionincluding a tubular'leg-portion ananchor member within such'tubular'portion and space'd from the lower end thereof, and a root memberprovided with a virtually hemispherical upper surface 'yieldably pressedagainst the lower end of the tubular leg,'the footmernb'erdncludinga'base adapted torest against the floor'while the leg portion may assumea variety of angular positions with respect'to such base.

object or thepresentinvention, therefore} isf-to disclose and provide animproved "sen-ad J'ustingfurniture foot. 1 further object of theinventio'n'is to disclose and provide asimple an'd efii-cient methodofas" sembling 'a self adjusting furniture foot; v i

still -'further object of the invent-ionis to disclose a self-aligningfoot construction wherein a foot mem'ber' is arig'ularly movable in avariety of directionstvith respect to the axis of a leg; suchfoot-member bein'g 'yieldably retained in contact withtheleg in'allpositions.- l I143 Again,---an object of the invention'is to discloseand'prov-ide'a method of construction' 'wherein the various elements maybe combined for 'cooperative relation in" a-simple" and efiicient mannerThese and'other objects, advantages and-adap tati'ons of the inventionwill become i apparent to' those 'skilled in I the art from thefollowing description of certain illustrative forms embodyingtheinvention. W i v- -In the-description," reference will be'hadto theappended drawingain which: Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section 'th-roughgafoot constructed in 1 accordance with "the :present invention, i J::Fig. 2-isa transverse section taken along the plane 11- -11 'ofFig. 1.-a 1 Fig'iz3ris a side elevation showing. a position which may beassumed by 'the foot wh'enqthe article *of furniture of which-the footis a part; vti te g r :l '1 l. Fig; -isa transverse section through amodified'fo'rm 'of'constructionr. I '0 i 2:: The lower portion of atubular legf'ofzan- :artie cle offu'rniture ig'indicated at 1185'The'lowei' end of such tubular leg portion is provided with a seat and.the scat is preferablyvirtually conical, as' indicated at l l. It willbe noted'thatfsudh seat faces invvardly toward the'longitudinal axisofthe tubular portion' llli' lt may be conical or it may be concave an'dthe edges of the seat may be rounded so a-s-to impart a smoothsurface'a'nd properly blend with" the inner and outer surfaces of thetubularportion-H1;It is tobe're niembered, moreover, thatthetubular'portion l0 'ma'y'be continuous with the entire -'leg--of thechair or other article of"furniture or"such=portion 'Hlunay'be ashorttubular'me'mber capable of being' att'ached to the 'loWer endofanyarticle of furniture whether the upper port ons or-main portion; of theleg is tubular" ors'olid. *In -otlfer words; the construction of thepresen't invention is adapted for useon' legs" made completely fromtubular materials and to legs made of solid materials such as wood.

An anchor member, .generally indicated at I2, is positioned within thetubular portion I and spaced from the lower end thereof. The anchormember l2 may consist of a strip of metal having bent end portions i3and i4 and some means for locating and holding a spring centrally withinthe tubular portion Hi. In Fig. 1 such means comprise an indentation orarcuate central portion 55 formed in the metal strap or anchor l2.

In the event the anchor member I2 is made from a separate strip ofmaterial, various methods of positioning and holding the strap withinthe tubular portion it may be employed. One method which has been foundto be extremely effective comprises springing or deflecting the metallictubular member Ill into the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig.2, slidably inserting the preformed anchor member l2 into the tube untilit assumes a desired position spaced from the end of the tube, and thenreleasing the deflecting pressure so as to cause the tube Ill to assumeits normal circular form, whereupon the anchor is compressed and heldWithin the tube.

When this method of operation is employed the end portions [3 and IQ orthe ends of the anchor i2 are spaced a distance substantially identicalto the internal diameter of the tube Ill. The end portions l3 and M maybe dispensed with if desired. After being positioned within the tubularportion ill in the manner stated, the anchor may be flash or spot weldedto the walls of the tube.

The anchor i2 may be made of resilient metal so that it may be slightlydeformed prior to and during insertion within the tubular member In, andthen allowed to expand within the tubular member l0, whereupon it may beheld in position by the expansive resiliency of the anchor member withinthe tube, the desired resiliency being attained by the curved portion[5.

It also has been found desirable to attach the end iii of spring I! tothe anchor member l2 prior to the introduction of such anchor into thetubular portion H).

A foot member, generally indicated at 2!], also is provided, such footmember including a substantially fiat base 2| and a virtuallyhemispherical upper surface 22. The foot member 28 may be hollow inorder to reduce weight. In its referred form, the radius of thehemisphere 22 is greater than one-half the outer diameter of the tubularportion iii, so that when such foot member is applied to the end of thetubular portion, the seat H will contact with the surface of thehemisphere and the base 2| may assume various angles with respect to thelongitudinal axis of the tube Ill.

The lower end of the spring ll, indicated at 18, is adapted to cooperatewith an object attached to the foot 23. The foot 29 may be provided witha lug 23 provided with a port or opening through which the end N3 of thespring [1 may extend. In actual practice, however, the tube, anchormember and spring have been assembled; the spring I! is extended,attached to the foot 20, and then allowed to pull the foot into contactwith the seat H on the lower end of the tubular portion H].

In the preferred embodiment illustrated, the

foot 20 is also provided with stop means limiting the movement of thetubular end portion over the hemispherical surface 22. Such stop meansmay take the form of a circumferential protuberance 24 carried by thefoot, such protuberance being capable of engaging the lower marginaledge of the tubular portion II] when the axis of the tube is at anappreciable angle with the plane of the base 2|. The base 2| may beraised so as to reecive a disc or pad 25 of pressed fibre, rubbercomposition, gasketing material, or other suitable substance capable ofdistributing the load and at the same time deadening or dampening thecontact between the foot and a supporting structure.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation showing a position assumed by the parts whena, chair, for example, provided with the improved foot construction, hasbeen tilted. It will be noted that the base of the foot member is infiat contact with the ground or supporting surface even though thetubular portion 10 (which is a continuation of the leg) is at a materialangle to the floor. Cutting of the floor, linoleum, or other surfacingis thus prevented and slippage is eliminated.

Fig. 4 illustrates a somewhat modified construction, the foot member inthis instance being provided with an axial port 26 through which thelower end or stem it of the spring l'l' mayextend. The end l3 may be avirtually straight piece of wire which is inserted through the port 26,pulled outwardly so as to place the spring l1 under tension, and thenbent over a washer 21 previously slipped upon such wire so as to anchorthe end of the spring within the foot member 20'. It also will be notedthat in this modified form of construction the interior of the footmember has been provided with an outwardly directed locking recess 28adapted to receive and positively hold the base pad 25'.

It is to be understood that the washer 21 may either bear against theinner surface of the foot member or such washer may be larger and bearagainst the edges of the recess in which pad 25 is held. In a stillfurther modification, the pad 25 may be provided with an eye throughwhich the lower end l8 of the spring may extend.

Although the foot members 20 and 20' illustrated are hollow, it is to beunderstood that solid foot members may be employed and the bases of suchsolid foot members maybe provided with pads suitably cemented orotherwise attached thereto, or the lower surface or base of such padsmay be knurled or otherwise roughened to prevent slippage.

Various changes and modifications may be made from the specificillustrative forms described hereinabove. All such changes andmodifications as come within the scope of the appended claims areembraced thereby.

I claim:

1. A self-adjusting furniture foot construction comprising: a tubularleg portion, the lower end thereof being provided with an inwardlyfacing virtually conical seat; an anchor member extending transverselyacross the interior of the tubular portion and spaced from said lowerend; a foot member provided with a base and a virtually hemisphericalupper surface adapted to slidably contact the seat on the lower end ofthe tubular portion; and spring means connected to the anchor and footmember for yieldably urging the foot member against the end of thetubular portion.

2. A self-adjusting furniture foot construction comprising: a tubularleg portion, the lower end thereof being provided with an inwardlyfacing virtually conical seat; an anchor member extending transverselyacross the interior of the tubular portion and spaced'from said lowerend, said anchor being provided with means for locking and holding aspring centrally within the tubular portion; a foot member provided witha base and a virtually hemispherical upper surface adapted to slidablycontact the seat on the lower end of the tubular portion; and springmeans connected to the anchor and foot member for yieldably urging thefoot member against the end of the tubular portion.

3. A self-adjusting furniture foot construction comprising: a tubularleg portion, the lower end thereof being provided with an inwardlyfacing virtually conical seat; an anchor member extending transverselyacross the interior of the tubular portion and spaced from said lowerend; a foot member provided with a base and a virtually hemisphericalupper surface adapted to slidably contact the seat on the lower end ofthe tubular portion; and spring means connected to the anchor and footmember for yieldably urging the foot member against the end of thetubular portion, said foot member including stop means limiting movementof the tubular end portion over the hemispherical surface.

4. A self-adjusting furniture foot construction comprising: a tubularleg portion, the lower end thereof being provided with an inwardlyfacing virtually conical seat an anchor member extending transverselyacross the interior of the tubular portion and spaced from said lowerend; a foot Y member provided with a base and a virtually hemisphericalupper surface adapted to slidably contact the seat on the lower end ofthe tubular portion, the radius of the hemisphere being greater thanone-half the outer diameter of the tubular portion; and spring meansconnected to the anchor and foot member for yieldably urging the footmember against the end of the tubular portion.

5. A self-adjusting furniture foot construction comprising: a tubularleg portion, the lower end thereof being provided with an inwardlyfacing virtually conical seat; an anchor member extending transverselyacross the interior of the tubular portion and spaced from said lowerend;

a foot member provided with a base and a virtually hemispherical uppersurface adapted to slidably contact the seat on the lower end of thetubular portion, the radius of the hemisphere being greater thanone-half the outer diameter of the tubular portion; and spring meansconnected to the anchor and foot member for yieldably urging the footmember against the end of the tubular portion, said foot memberincluding stop means limiting movement of the tubular end portion overthe hemispherical surface.

6. A self-adjusting furniture foot construction comprising: a tubularleg portion, the lower end thereof being provided with a seat; an anchormember within the tubular portion and spaced from said lower end; a footmember including a virtually hemispherical upper surface; and springmeans positioned within the tubular portion and between the anchor andfoot member for yieldably urging the foot member against the end of thetubular portion.

7. A self-adjusting furniture foot construction comprising: a tubularleg portion, the lower end thereof being provided with a seat; an anchormember within the tubular portion and spaced from said lower end; a footmember including a virtually hemispherical upper surface; and springmeans positioned within the tubular portion and between the anchor andfoot member for yieldably urging the foot member against the end of thetubular portion, said anchor member being held Within the tubularportion by the resiliency of the walls of the tubular portion.

ARTHUR A. ANDERSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 710,073 Pratt Sept. 30, 19021,658,244 Lewis Feb. 7, 1928 1,761,502 Sullivan June 3, 1930 1,903,687Scha-cht Apr. 11, 1933

